Bad Behavior: Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

“It’s been a month since we’ve been alone in a room. And David won’t leave.” They walked, still holding hands.
    “I feel so terrible about David,” she said. “He’s such a lovely, innocent person. He’s the purest person I know.”
    “There are no pure people.”
    “You haven’t seen David. He has such naked eyes. When you touch him, it’s like there’s nothing between you and him.” She looked at him quizzically. “You’re not like that. When I touch you, I don’t feel you at all.”
    “There’s nothing to feel.”
    “Don’t say that about yourself.” She dropped his hand and rubbed his back with her mittened hand. “Anyway, it’s good you’re not like David. Even as you are, I worry about you being too nice to me.”
    He put his hand around her neck. “I don’t know what makes you think I have any intention of being nice to you.”
    She turned and kissed him. He took a handful of her hair in his fist and pulled her head tautly back while he kissed her.
    They sat on the cold stone steps of an apartment building. They unbuttoned their jackets and huddled together, his hands on either side of her softly sweatered body.
    “You’re so strange,” she said. “It’s hard to talk to you.”
    “How so?”
    “You’re always talking at me. You don’t listen to what I say.”
    “I seem strange because I’m special.”
    “I think it’s because you take so many pills.”
    “You should start taking them. Did you know the government gives them to soldiers who are about to go into combat? They sharpen the reflexes, senses, everything.”
    “I’m not going into combat.”
    There was a sound from above. They turned and saw a handsome, well-dressed middle-aged couple at the head of the steps. Joey saw a flicker of admiration in Daisy’s face as she looked at the tall blond lady in her evening dress. The couple began to descend. Daisy and Joey stood and squeezed into a stony corner to let them pass. The man’s shoulder scratched against Joey. The man coughed, quite unnecessarily.
    “Excuse me,” said the woman. “We only live here.”
    “You have plenty of room,” said Daisy sharply.
    “You have no business being here,” said the man. The couple stood on the sidewalk and frowned, their shoulders indignant.
    “Why do you care?” said Daisy. “We aren’t in your way.” Her voice quivered oddly.
    “Ssssh,” said Joey. “Let them live their lives.”
    “You are very rude,” said the woman. “If you’re here when we get back, we’re going to call the police.” She swept away, sweeping her husband with her. They were probably in a hurry.
    Joey watched the woman’s dress fluttering along the pavement. “That was strange,” he said. “I’ve sat on lots of steps before and that’s never happened.”
    Daisy didn’t answer.
    “I guess it’s different in the East Village.”
    Daisy sniffed wetly.
    He reached into his pocket and got out his bag of jelly beans. He offered some to Daisy, but she ignored him. Her head was down, and slow, quiet tears ran singly down her nose. He put his arms around her. “Hey, come on,” he said. He felt no response from her. She didn’t move or look at him.
    He dropped his arm and looked away, confused. He ate his jelly beans and looked at the pool of lamplight in the black street.

A Romantic Weekend

S HE WAS MEETING a man she had recently and abruptly fallen in love with. She was in a state of ghastly anxiety. He was married, for one thing, to a Korean woman whom he described as the embodiment of all that was feminine and elegant. Not only that, but a psychic had told her that a relationship with him could cripple her emotionally for the rest of her life. On top of this, she was tormented by the feeling that she looked inadequate. Perhaps her body tilted too far forward as she walked, perhaps her jacket made her torso look bulky in contrast to her calves and ankles, which were probably skinny. She felt like an object unraveling in every